This exhibition celebrates the amazing images and achievements of the two Mars Exploration Rovers on the 10th anniversary of their landings on the Red Planet.

The twin Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity were launched toward Mars in the summer of 2003. They arrived months later in spectacular fashion, bouncing down safely on the surface after a harrowing six-minute descent through the thin atmosphere. Spirit arrived on January 3, 2004, and Opportunity on January 24, 2004.

One of the mission's main scientific goals was to search for and study a wide range of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars. To do this, the rovers landed on opposite sides of Mars in locations that appear to have been affected by liquid water in the past.

The goal of each rover was to travel up to 1 kilometer (2/3 mile) during a primary mission of 90 Martian days. Both rovers far exceeded these expectations. Spirit traveled 7.7 kilometers (4.8 miles) over more than six years. Opportunity has traveled more than 38 kilometers (23.6 miles) over an ongoing mission that has reached 10 years.

This exhibition is made possible through the generosity of Cornell University, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and NASA.

Robert Pearlman

The museum has provided a few more details about the exhibit:

This collection of 50-plus photographs of Mars' craters, hills, dunes, dust clouds, meteorites and rock formations chronicles NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission, which was designed to evaluate the planet's geologic history and search for evidence of past water. When rovers Spirit and Opportunity landed on opposite sides of Mars in 2004, they were expected to operate 90 days; however, Spirit lasted more than six years and Opportunity is still functioning.

From a view of the sun setting over the rim of a crater, to a study of "abstract dunes," to a shot of rover tracks disappearing over the horizon, the images were chosen for their scientific and aesthetic content by MER mission scientists.

dogcrew5369

I visited this exhibit on March 15. It is an incredible display of HD photography by Spirit and Opportunity. It's more like an art gallery than exhibit. It will make you feel like you are standing on the red planet. Go and see it!